Petals Off a Flower
by Tiny Zephyr
Summary: A one-shot to Aster's death scene and the beginning of the Vanguard.


**A/N: This one shot took so long oh my Martel. Well anyway, I was just thinking of other ways that Aster's death scene might've gone down(obviously this is not how it went down since they have a novelized manga about it, regretfully in Japanese though QAQ). So I guess you can consider this an AU? slightly? Maybe? Well w/e. Enjoy your feels! ****(ﾉ◕ヮ◕****)ﾉ*****:･ﾟ✧*****:･ﾟ✧**

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Richter watched in anger as the centurion of Darkness flew off with Ratatosk's core. The red head clutched his axe and sword hilts, turning his knuckles white under his gloves. Then reality caught up to him and he quickly spun around, seeing Aster's body, blood staining his once pure white lab coat.

The half-elf ran towards his friend, yelling out his name, "Aster! Aster, stay with me!" Richter turned his body in his back gently so he would not agitate any wounds more than it was. Slowly he moved his upper body into his arms.

"He's not dead," Aqua explained, appearing from a cloud of water. "Not yet at least..." She added the last part quietly but Richter still heard it, chosing to ignore it for there were more dire things to be attended to.

Softly, the half-elf brushed aside the blonde's hair from his face silently while casting a _First Aid. _He had used up nearly all of his mana in the battle with the summon spirit and on top of that, he had no gels or potions to heal his wounded friend. "Damn it all…" he muttered, the spell having ended. The only things that seemed to disappear from Aster's body were some scratches and cuts. Richter's eyes began watering up at the thought of this boy- his friend, his partner, the only person in that wretched academy who actually stood up for him and disregarded his half-elf genes- being gone, being dead.

Then the broken boy's eyes began to peek open. Richter felt his heart stop at this, quickly lifting Aster's body slightly up. "Aster..!" he whispered, not wanting his voice to break in front of Aster. His heart broke when he noticed how pained the boy's eyes were, and how tired.

He expected Aster to just pull himself up, dust himself off, and laugh, saying, "Got you again!" But he didn't. Instead, the child prodigy simply broke a half smile and let a tear spill over his cheek.

"D...Don't give me.. that look, R...Richter…" the dying boy croaked. "It's…gonna be… okay… alri...ght…?"

Richter couldn't find the words to reply. He mentally scolded himself, wondering why he wasn't the one saying those words to the other. So many questions swarmed in his mind.

Why was Aster attacked? Why didn't he talk him out of coming here? Why is he dying in his arms at this point? Why didn't Richter protect him? Like he said he would?

"R… Richter…" Aster whispered softly, his voice cracking before he coughed out metallic slime. That was when Richter finally found his voice, tilting Aster's head to the side slightly so he wouldn't choke on his own blood.

"H-hey, easy," Richter started, trying so hard to keep his voice even. "Don't- don't stress yourself, Aster."

Aster's green eyes moved to see his friend. He cracked a half-smile again, trying to lighten up the gloomy mood. "I...know…" his hoarse voice replied. He blinked away a tear, fear clawing at his heart because he knew he didn't have much time. He swallowed shakily, noticing it was getting harder to breathe now. "H-he...y… re…remember…what I… what I told you...the other day..?"

Richter blinked at Aster. How could he ask that at a time like this? Of course he remembered. He said it all the time. Richter swallowed, tears burning his eyes again. "Of course… Courage… Courage is the magic…"

"That turns dreams… in…into reality…" Aster joined in. Both of their voices were breaking at this point because they knew they couldn't stop the inevitable. Aster started shaking as he let the tears fall freely now. "Never…" He coughed out some blood but continued,"Never for...forget...that…" Richter, knowing Aster couldn't speak anymore, held him closer to his chest while tapping his forehead to the blonde's, hoping to make him feel safe as he was dying. For a short time, they laid there, listening to Aster's ragged breathing. Aqua didn't dare say a word as the two stayed there.

Then Aster's breathing slowly began to fade until it came to a stop. Silence rang around the Ginungagap. Not even Richter breathed. He slowly lifted his head off of Aster's forehead and stared at the blond. His emerald eyes were as wide as moons, searching the grey and crystalized eyes of Aster. Then it struck him.

"_ASTER!_"

* * *

Richter stood silently over his partner's burial spot. He had brought his dead friend to a field of flowers that Aster would always talk about, burying him in the middle. It took him a long time to find this place and it was very difficult, even with the help of the centurion of water who decided to tag along out of sympathy or something else. It was especially unpleasant having to carry Aster's body on his back and simply stating he had a rough trip whenever someone asked. It brought tears to his eyes when he tried so desperately to hear for a heartbeat only to be greeted by a deathly silence.

It was during the middle of this long journey that the half-elf realized he had sustained heavy wounds from his fight with the summon spirit, Ratatosk. He figured that he was so struck by Aster's death, he hadn't realized it until a few days later. True, the wound did take his mind off the teen's death, but it was only temporarily. The death of Aster Laker still clawed at his heart like a bloodlusting fenrir.

_Aster is dead_. Those words rung in his head endlessly ever since Aster breathed his last breath. Staring at the lump of dirt covering the boy's slumbering body, Richter let out a sigh. All his tears had already been poured out for this boy, so why were his eyes still burning with liquid? Had he really loved this annoyance that much? Of… Of course he did. He mentally scolded himself for wondering such a stupid question.

"What do you plan to do now?" Aqua's voice questioned from behind. Richter almost forgot she was there.

Removing his glasses to rub his eyes, Richter grumpily replied,"I'm going to find that monster who killed Aster and finish him off. I won't hesitate to harm you too if you try to stop me."

"I will do no such thing. To think Lord Ratatosk- no, just Ratatosk- could mercilessly kill an innocent human in cold blood! I have already cut off all my ties with him," Aqua replied, crossing her arms. "If you will have me, I would like to offer my assistance to you."

Richter blinked. "You would betray your own master?"

"I would," Aqua replied simply. When Richter didn't reply right away, Aqua continued, floating straight in front of the swordsman. "Then it's decided. From now on, I shall call _you_ Master."

"I never gave you permission to do so," the half-elf replied with a sigh, pushing up his glasses. "Very well. I can use you, after all."

"You can," Aqua agreed. "And we can start off with this bit of information. Not far from here is the Temple of Earth. In there lies Solum's core along with the Summon Spirit of Earth, Gnome. Solum is the Centurion of Earth and his special ability is deceit. Take his core and lead a rebellion against Ratatosk. Then," Aqua paused, her blue eyes intensifying with hatred. "Then we can destroy both Ratatosk and that Tenebonehead. However..."

Richter raised a brow at her pause. "'However'?"

"We must find a way to destroy Ratatosk and still keep the door to Neiflheim closed," Aqua finished, looking up. "Ratatosk is the guard to that door. If he dies the door will open and..."

".. And our world will be consumed," Richtered completed the sentence, understanding her point.

"Exactly," Aqua nodded. The Centurion of Water tilted her head, coming closer to the half-elf. "Do you still wish to continue?"

Richter thought about her words for awhile. Revenge for his fallen comrade was top priority for him at this moment, even though he knew that Aster would hate to see Richter this way. However, if he didn't think of a way to destroy the summon spirit without opening the door to Neiflheim, everything was doomed anyway. His heart and mind were crossed. Kill the Summon Spirit and have the world dominated by evil but keep him alive and be destroyed anyway.

After a few moments, he nodded to the centurion. "Alright, I'll agree to this. But if you get out of line even once, I'll feed you to your so called servant monsters."

"Hmph, fine," Aqua sniffed, moving her arms to her sides.

With that, they began to head to where Aqua said the Temple of Earth is. Before they officially departed, however, Richter couldn't help but poke his head back for one last glance at his friend's final resting place. He swallowed and returned forward.

_I'll avenge your death, Aster. Even if it kills me._

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**A/N: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕****)ﾉ*****:･ﾟ✧*****:･ﾟ✧ ****/throws feels at you**


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